Thank Crunchie it's Friday

Just before my last shift of the week, I got a call from my friend Bob, asking if I wanted to go for a walk on Friday morning. At first I said no, but then thought that it might be a good way of getting back onto normal sleep patterns. So, we arranged to meet at Dover station early on Friday morning and head to Broadstairs for a walk along to coast to Margate.

In the end, I had an easy shift Thursday night, and there is nothing quite like the feeling of that moment when the bell goes and you can walk out the factory gates and head home.

Jools dropped me off on the way to work, and bob arrived just before departure time and we boarded the train to Ramsgate. The climb out of Dover is stunning as the line curves around Buckland and up towards the town cemetery and the portal to Guston tunnel. I love the views over the roofs of the town down to the harbour and the ferries and cruiseships.



We arrived in Broadstairs at half eight, with the town yet to wake up; Broadstairs is a beautiful town, in a stunning setting of a lovely bay, but totally unsuited for the age of the car. The 'main' road twists and turns round grand houses, and at times is barely wide enough for a car, let alone a bus.

We walk on and soon are out in open country and come to North Foreland lighthouse the twin of the one at St Margaret's. The sky is a stunning blue and looks wonderful through my viewfinder. Further on, we pass field after field of cabbages, something that the Isle of Thanet seems famous for.



Once on the outskirts of Margate we stop at a small cafe and order a hearty fried breakfast, just in time as behind us a party of 20 mothers and children arrive for a birthday party.



Margate is all faded seaside glamour, and only giving hints of its grander past. Now it's all peeling paint and boarded up shops, but the prom is still wonderful to walk along and plenty to photograph.

Bob bids me farewell as he heads off to visit him Mother along to coast, and I decided to head back home on the train. Sitting on the other side of the carriage is a guy covered in tattoos with his wife or girlfriend; he seems in good humour until someone walks past and passes comment, and he erupts in a fury and runs the length of the train threatening murder. Seems he is just out of prison hand has a temper on what is known as a hair trigger. He gets off at Deal to deal with the percieved slur on his character, wife in tow muttering apologies to other passengers.